Asked by: Anne McLaughlin (Scottish National Party - Glasgow North East)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what time targets his Department has for acknowledging complaints from people about Green Deal mis-selling.
Answered by Kwasi Kwarteng
In line with departmental targets, we aim to respond to correspondence within 15 working days. This includes acknowledging complaints about Green Deal mis-selling.
Asked by: Anne McLaughlin (Scottish National Party - Glasgow North East)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps his Department is taking to assist food and drink wholesalers who had their trade credit limits (a) reduced or (b) withdrawn by insurers in advance of the full re-opening of the hospitality sector.
Answered by Paul Scully
The Government’s Trade Credit Reinsurance Scheme will see the majority of Trade Credit Insurance coverage maintained for businesses across the UK. The Scheme operates as a reinsurance arrangement which will see trade credit insurers continuing to write and maintain cover to business throughout the Covid-19 crisis.
We expect to finalise details of the scheme with both insurers and the European Commission soon. Contractual agreements with insurers will be signed shortly afterwards allowing cover that has previously been reduced or withdrawn to be reinstated. If a business feels that their coverage has been withdrawn unfairly they should contact either their previous insurer about reinstating cover, or look to arrange new cover under the same conditions as their previous coverage.
Asked by: Anne McLaughlin (Scottish National Party - Glasgow North East)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of the potential effect on the hospitality sector of many of their suppliers going out of business; and what further support is available to prevent this.
Answered by Paul Scully
We have been in regular contact with representatives from the hospitality sector, including suppliers, to ensure that we support them during and after the Covid-19 crisis. A number of measures are available to support suppliers to the hospitality industry, such as access to the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme and government backed loans. Suppliers to badly hit sectors such as hospitality may also be able to access the Discretionary Grant Fund which provides business support grants to businesses affected by the Covid-19 crisis at the discretion of Local Authorities.
The Government is providing additional measures to support the hospitality sector itself, including a VAT reduction to 5% and the Eat Out to Help Out Scheme.
Asked by: Anne McLaughlin (Scottish National Party - Glasgow North East)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what criteria were used to draw up the list of approved installers under the Green Deal Home Improvement Fund.
Answered by Jesse Norman - Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
Capita, as the scheme administrator for the Green Deal Home Improvement Fund (GDHIF), received information on registered installers from the Green Deal Oversight and Registration Body (GD ORB), which managed the authorisation scheme for participants. A company was listed on the GDHIF Register if it was on the Green Deal Register.
Asked by: Anne McLaughlin (Scottish National Party - Glasgow North East)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many firms have been removed from the approved list of Green Deal installers in each calendar year of the scheme to date.
Answered by Jesse Norman - Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
The table below shows the number of firms that have been removed from the Green Deal (GD) Participants Register each calendar year since the GD scheme began.
Year | Installers Withdrawn by CBs |
2012 | 99 |
2013 | 11 |
2014 | 191 |
2015 | 410 |
2016 | 206 |
2017 | 14 |
Total | 931 |
Asked by: Anne McLaughlin (Scottish National Party - Glasgow North East)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what responsibility his Department takes for malpractice by accredited Green Deal installers.
Answered by Jesse Norman - Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
Green Deal Certification Bodies are responsible for certifying Green Deal Installers and monitoring their compliance against the requirements in the Publicly Available Specification (PAS) 2030 and/or Microgeneration Certification Scheme and the Green Deal Code of Practice. The Green Deal Ombudsman and Investigation Service provides a redress path for consumers who have a Green Deal Plan in place and experience problems with the measures installed.
Asked by: Anne McLaughlin (Scottish National Party - Glasgow North East)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what account the Green Deal Oversight and Registration Body took of the prior business history of company directors before accrediting Green Deal installers.
Answered by Jesse Norman - Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
Green Deal Certification Bodies are responsible for certifying Green Deal Installers. A Green Deal Certification Body is required by the Publicly Available Specification (PAS) 2031 to ensure that an Installer company meets both PAS 2030 (the technical standards governing Green Deal installations) for the energy efficiency measures they wish to install and the Green Deal Code of Practice requirements. These cover, among other things, the business and financial probity of the Installer company and the technical competence of individual installers employed by a company.